A review by shane_tiernan
The Tomb and Other Tales by H.P. Lovecraft

4.0

So I read some of these stories a long time ago and don't remember them and didn't write any comments. But for most of them I did. But I just finished the last story today so here are my comments.

Azathoth : 7.0 - Very nice. Mopey Lovecraft dreams about a man that is discontented with the world and reality.

He : 7.0 - A man "born in the wrong era" finds that New York haunts him. He meets someone who is actually from the colonial days but has stayed alive through magic. The man shows him the past but the man's enemies come and kill him. Loved the view of ancient earth.

Poetry and the Gods : 6.5 - My idea about beauty breaking down barriers to other realms, similar to Colin Wilson's book. In this one a woman reads poetry and it brings her in contact with the sleeping greek/roman gods and they tell of their imminent return and also that their prophets are poets. Milton, Shakespeare etc... None of the poetry did anything for me so it was kind of hard to relate on that level.

The Alchemist : 6.5 - Guy grows up in rotting old keep. His family has a curse that they die when they turn 32 because they killed an old alchemist. His son actually created eternal youth potion and has lived all these years to kill the ancestors. Standard.

The Beast in the Cave : 6.0 - One of Lovecraft's first. Not bad. Guy gets lost in tunnels, finds creature, turns out to be a man that looks like an ape.

The Book : - Pretty cool little piece. The incantations in the book push the reader through gateway after gateway.

The Descendant : 4.5 - Just a fragment that doesn't really go anywhere. Just the setup.

The Evil Clergyman : 5.5 - Short and not that good. Guys goes in to someone room, encounters his ghost and now looks like the old occupant.

The Horror at Red Hook : 7.5 - Different from most of the other stories. Cults in New York. Trip to hell. Lots of imagery. Pretty cool.

The Street : 7.5 - Totally different from any Lovecraft story I've ever read. I loved the way he told the history of the "Street". But then it seemed like his predjudice problem came out talking about the good anglos and the slant eyed foriegners.

The Thing in the Moonlight : 6.5 - Cool how he included himself in the story since he's such a scary figure.

The Transition of Juan Romero : 6.5 - Not sure why it's called a transition. He just went down in a mine and then died. The bottomless pit thing is scary though.

Imprisoned with the Pharaohs : 8.0 - Harry Hudinnis name, also Under the Prymids. Very cool

In the Walls of Eryx : ? - Don't remember.
The Festival : ? - Don't remember.
The Strange High House in the Mist : ? - Don't remember.
The Tomb : ? - Don't remember.